Christmas tree farmers forced to adapt to climate change and affordability crisis

Christmas trees are a long-running tradition for many, but modern-day circumstances are slowly transforming the tree farming industry. 

Increasingly unpredictable weather is one of the biggest challenges Michael Cormack faces on the Christmas tree farm he owns and operates one hour north of Toronto in Goodwood, Ont. His grandfather started the business back in the 1950s.

“Mother nature is a big, big factor in the business,” Cormack told CBC Toronto.

“This year in July, we were averaging over 29 C. So we had trees from two to three years ago that just died. … Four years ago, we had a tornado here that wiped out a bunch of our stuff.” 

That’s just one of the issues changing how local Christmas tree farmers operate.

Another major factor is the cost of living crisis. Cormack said he's noticed fewer young couples and small families visiting his farm in recent years, with more multi-generational families seeming to share one tree together. 

High cost of land is also having an impact on the industry, said Kelsey Leonard, founder and director of the Christmas Tree Lab at the University of Waterloo. She said it’s one of the reasons the industry is having trouble attracting young farmers. 

“Right now many of the farms are owned by elderly growers, and they're aging out. So we're losing a lot of farms year after year, which is unfortunate,” Leonard said.

U.S. tariffs are also likely to have an impact on the costs associated with growing Christmas trees this year, Leonard said, especially when it comes to buying equipment. But she says the full impact won’t be known until after the holiday selling season. 

The years-long debate around whether real trees or artificial trees are more environmentally friendly is also at issue in the industry — though most experts now say the overall carbon footprint of real trees far outweighs the benefits of artificial ones. 

“A lot of artificial trees are some type of plastic byproduct, which is a product of fossil fuel consumption,” Leonard said.

“Then you have to think about the carbon footprint of the shipping that's required for that artificial tree.” 

Some people opt to keep artificial trees for as long as possible to try to offset their carbon footprint, but that takes about 20 years of use, according to the David Suzuki Foundation.

“Most people are not keeping those trees that long,” Leonard said.